Splash Mountain awaits W. Tennis

Coming off of their first two losses of the season, the Penn women's tennis team has been preparing vigorously for its upcoming spring break matches in Florida. "We are such a strong team. Every one of us is so mentally strong," freshman Shuba Srinivasan said. "It will just take us time to realize how good we really are." The Quakers (3-2) will begin their trip in Miami, where they will play Florida Atlantic Saturday and Florida National Sunday. They will then travel to Orlando to take on South Florida next Thursday and Central Florida the following day. Penn is using its two losses last weekend in Virginia as a learning experience that will improve their level of play. "We learn more from our losses than we do from our wins," Penn coach Michael Dowd said. "Now we know what we have to do to get better." The spring break matches will be challenging for the Red and Blue -- both South Florida and Central Florida are ranked among the top 50 teams in the nation. To prepare for such strong competition, Penn players have each worked throughout the week on improving specific parts of their games. "Some of our players have had to work on concentrating throughout a two-hour match," Dowd said. "Others have had to work on their serves, their footwork or their conditioning." The extensive mental and physical practice that Penn's players have undergone have given them a true sense of confidence with regard to their upcoming matches. "I've been working on my doubles play all week," Srinivasan said. "I've become physically stronger as well." Junior Corin Esterowitz agreed with teammate Srinivasan about the tough workouts. The upperclassman commented on practices that have included "specific doubles drills to prepare for the matches." Aside from presenting the Quakers with some formidable competition, coach Dowd believes that the break from classes will help the team to relax, as several of the players have been suffering from exhaustion due to midterm exams. "Being down in Florida will be a good change of pace," Dowd said. "The team is ready for the trip both mentally and physically." The vacation, combined with the team's diligent work ethic, will hopefully produce success against tough competition in Florida. "Last season we went 4-1 during spring break, and we'd like to have another successful trip this year," sophomore Elana Gold said.